The Geek Instinct: Technological Competence and Cultural Alignment in Disadvantaged Contexts

• In Event: 207 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 22. Media and Literacy

Abstract

Recent research suggests that poor outcomes—such as teen pregnancy or low academic achievement— of children raised in disadvantaged contexts are a consequence of cultural heterogeneity, that is, exposure to competing cultural models that create weak signaling resulting in negative outcomes. While empirically supported, this theory fails to account for the fact that some students from disadvantaged contexts have positive outcomes and the role that institutions play. To address these gaps, I propose a theory of cultural alignment using the case of technological competence. This theory attends to how institutional practices interact with individuals’ habits—which I define as the affective, cognitive, and behavior traits individuals have a propensity to enact. Individuals carry habits into institutional spheres and the level of alignment between habits and institutional practice determines how much effort is required to resolve this difference, by the individual or institution. Misalignment is not static; individuals’ habits can exert force—without conscious effort—to shift institutional practice and produce alignment in unexpected ways, such as more positive learning experiences and outcomes. More broadly, the theory of cultural alignment can be used to understand how cultural processes influence outcomes in various institutional settings such as higher education, healthcare, and employment.

Author

• Cassidy Puckett, Northwestern University